Manhattan on Hope opens on northern Gold Coast

Hope Island on the Gold Coast has a new Gatsby style restaurant.

After opening Manhattan on Hope last month, owner Jo-Anne Taylor wants to make it the key dining destination for the area.

“We already have a couple of restaurants — New York New York and Tiffanys Cafe,” Taylor told the Gold Coast Bulletin.

“As Paradise Point locals ourselves we didn’t want to drive too far for a lovely dinner or a drink, so we’re bringing that experience to the northern Gold Coast.”

She has given the site an opulent fit out, and there’s a sexy bar.

But the key to the place, she says, lies in its natural features.

“We’ve got the rare waterfront aspect of being west facing, so where we are placed over the marina you get stunning sunsets over the water,” she told the newspaper.

“The doors open up across the front and all of the tables have a view, but we do get a lot of people requesting to sit along the front.”

She says the menu is Italian style but to give it a modern touch, there’s share plates.

“It’s all very well priced so you can try a lot — we want people to order and share an array of dishes, just like you would at nonna’s table,” she told the Gold Coast Bulletin.

“The essence of Italian dining is the produce. We’ve gone the extra mile to import a lot of Italian produce.”

“We didn’t want just a duplication of something else already out there, so you’ll find dishes like venison carpaccio instead of the usual beef carpaccio. It’s a really beautiful cut of meat, with textures of parsnip and fried capers.

“The veal cutlet parmigiana is another popular one.”

She also recommends the baked Italian eggs and, of course, the lamb’s fry.

“We encourage people to sit at the espresso bar and have a coffee — we use Bear Bones out of Brisbane and it’s been very well received,” she said.